


Harry Potter and His Blue Haired Godson

by Gwen_Myers



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drarry, F/F, F/M, Harry becomes a professor, Harry raising Teddy au, Hogwarts Eighth Year, M/M, No explicit smut, Penny Haywood is the potions teacher, Ron still becomes an auror, Tulip is there too, With their daughter and son, background romione so don't expect much, oh yeah Teddy is raised at Hogwarts, so Teddy has friends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-02
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2019-07-06 10:44:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15884460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gwen_Myers/pseuds/Gwen_Myers
Summary: At seventeen, Harry Potter’s life changes forever, and not just because Voldemort is finally gone. Once the battle was over, he took the responsibility of raising Teddy Lupin. It isn’t that Andromeda couldn’t, or that Harry didn’t want her to, it was that Harry needed this. He needed a reason to continue. And, in truth, he thought he owed it to Remus. And to Tonks. And to Sirius. They weren’t the best reasons to decide to raise a baby, but they were his.Loosely based on a post by younggayanddoingokay on Tumblr





	1. Four Months Later

**Chapter One**

Harry arrived at King’s Cross Station at 10:35 a.m. on September 1st, 1998. The place seemed so foreign to him, despite the fact he had been going there for years. He was pushing two suitcases on a trolley before him, and was holding a five-month old baby tight to his chest. He wasn’t looking forward to passing the barrier with a baby in his arms, but he had already discussed it with Professor – sorry, Headmistress – McGonagall. They both wanted his eighth year to be as normal as possible. It would already be weird enough that he was the only student at school with a baby, she didn’t want to draw attention to him by allowing him to show up any other way than the Hogwarts Express.

He held Teddy tighter to his chest, and sprinted towards the brick wall between platforms nine and ten. Once he knew he was through, he let go of his trolley and immediately checked on Teddy. He was still sleeping, Harry was very lucky in one aspect: Teddy was a deep sleeper. Although, he didn’t really count himself lucky every time he freaked out and thought Teddy was dead because he wouldn’t wake up. He swore that sometimes his heart literally stopped when Teddy slept for longer than three hours maximum. Molly told him that it was a symptom of being a new parent.

Once he believed that Teddy was secure in his arms, Harry reached for his trolley and pushed it farther into the station. He searched throughout the crowd, seeing many familiar faces, but no as many as he had hoped. He knew that a lot of the people in his year weren’t coming back for their own personal reasons – Ron, for example, was going through auror training rather than completing school this year. He knew Hermione was coming back, but she’d be arriving with Ginny and Luna, most likely ten minutes before the train left. With a quick glance around, he could see Terry Boot and Michael Corner were there, but Padma and Parvati Patil were missing. He didn’t have to look to know that that Dean, Seamus, and Neville were there, they had already confirmed that they would be through letters. But what surprised him most was that standing across the station was Draco bloody Malfoy – and he was staring at Harry. More specifically the baby in Harry’s arms.

Harry adjusted Teddy in his arms, realizing now that he could uncover his godson’s head now that there was no fear of muggles seeing his hair change. He released his trolley once again to unwrap the blanket from around Teddy’s head, seeing that his hair was a familiar brown, as it usually was when the boy was sleeping. Harry loved the color of Teddy’s natural hair, but knew it was likely that the boy would never see his natural appearance. He had read up on metamorphmagi, and most sources claimed that the person with the abilities would likely never be able to match their natural appearance with their abilities. Meaning that Teddy would only see his true form in pictures of him sleeping.

Harry glanced up at Malfoy again, seeing that he had now turned away to his fellow Slytherins, Greengrass Parkinson and Zabini. Harry knew that Goyle would not be returning this year, not after the death of his best friend, and he knew Nott and Bulstrode had been too involved in Death Eater activities to not be arrested, despite still being children. He had gone to all of their trials, had even testified on Goyle’s and Malfoy’s behalf (and Narcissa’s). When he went, he left Teddy with Andromeda, and every time he picked up his godson, she offered to raise him, at least for a year or two. And every time, he refused.

Not many people understood the fact that he wanted to raise Teddy, and even fewer understood that he wanted to do it alone. Andromeda and Molly had been pestering him ever since he had decided about he was still young and needed to live. Arthur, at least, had been understanding about it, but still stopped by the tiny apartment that Harry lived at. Harry knew he could live at Grimmauld Place, but he didn’t want Teddy growing up in a place that held so many bad memories, so he bought a small apartment in muggle London. Hermione had tried to be understanding, but even she thought it was too much responsibility for an eighteen-year-old. In truth, Harry believed that the only person who truly understood his decision was Luna.

Harry was broken out of his thoughts by a familiar, annoyingly high-pitched, voice. “HARRY! Over here!”, it called. Harry turned, grabbing his trolley and grimacing at the thought of what was come. He knew that they would be here, especially after him going semi-off-the-grid for the past few months. They all wanted a statement, especially her: Rita Skeeter. After the war, more and more people read her articles, discussing all of her theories about people who played key-parts in the war. _Was Draco Malfoy Bitten by the Werewolf, Fenrir Greyback? Severus Snape: Vampire or Just Another Brooding Death Eater? Is You-Know-Who Really Dead or has The Boy Who Lived Failed Again?_ Harry couldn’t help reading the articles, but they were all written on such little evidence that they ended up in his fireplace within half-an-hour of receiving them.

He tugged Teddy even closer to his chest, and looked towards Skeeter with a scowl. She smiled brightly at him in return, walking towards him. “And, who’s this?”, she asked, gesturing to baby in his arms. He was about to respond when he realized that her quill was already writing, and he saw flashes of the words, “Harry Potter”, “illegitimate child”, and “deadbeat mother”. He snatched the pad of paper out of the hair with his free hand, turning on her with fire in his eyes.

“He is Teddy Lupin. My **_godson_**.”, he said, clenching his teeth, as not to yell. Skeeter flinched slightly, but quickly recovered, grabbing for her quill and paper. He shoved them both in his back pocket, and glared at her to leave, just as Hermione, Luna, and Ginny appeared beside him. Luna took Teddy out Harry’s arms, seeing the anger written all over her friend’s face and they both looked on as their two friends tore Skeeter apart with their words.

When Skeeter had finally left, Hermione turned to him and said softly, “I’m so sorry for that, Harry. Professor McGonagall and Kingsley both assured me that reporters wouldn’t be allowed at the station today. I suppose that Skeeter used her animagus form to slip through any preventive measures.” Harry weakly smiled her and turned to Luna, who was still holding Teddy. Teddy had finally awoken, though he wasn’t surprised. Even the deepest sleepers woke up after a certain amount of yelling. He was gurgling, smiling widely at Luna, and grabbing for her face with his tiny fingers. Harry forgot about everything that had just happened after seeing the adorable sight, and smiled almost uncontrollably. He loved seeing Teddy so happy.

Luna passed Teddy back to him, and he kissed the boy’s forehead affectionately. Turning to his friends, he saw looks of shock and admiration on their faces. Except for Luna, of course, who had seen Harry interact with Teddy many times. The other two, though, were very surprised at the way that Harry was acting like a real father. They had grown up with him, and had never stopped to think that there would be a time after war, had thought even less about any of them being **_parents_**. He too, was surprised by some of the things he did. So, instead, he weakly grinned at them, and pulled out his wand to levitate his suitcases.

“Windgardium leviosa,” he muttered, and the suitcases floated off the trolley, less than a foot above the ground. Adjusting Teddy in his arms, he walked onto the train with the suitcases in front of him, and his friends behind him. He walked to the back of the train to the compartments nearest to the restrooms, and set the suitcases down in the last compartment on the right, sitting down for the first time in what felt like hours. He was absolutely exhausted and could probably sleep for hours, if not for Teddy.

Ginny knew exactly what he was thinking and held her arms for Teddy, ordering him to sleep. The train had just started moving when he closed his eyes on the sight of the red-haired girl gushing over his now red-haired godson, and he fell into a deep sleep for the first time in months.


	2. The Moon Lullaby

Luna shook Harry awake carefully an hour before they were to arrive at Hogwarts. He needed to change into his robes, and probably needed to clean up a bit. His first thought waking up was to grab for Teddy but Hermione shook her head at him, saying, “We’ve taken care of him, now you go take care of yourself.”

“Did you change his nappie? It’s been quite a while, he probably needs his nappie changed.”, he said, still holding his arms out for his godson. Hermione looked at him exasperatedly, as if saying, _‘Yes, we held him for the past several hours and did not once bother to change his nappie.’_ He glared at her, and then glanced quickly at the two trunks he brought, seeing that the smaller one (Teddy’s) had been opened. “You could have woken me up, I would have done, you know,” he responded to her look, and she shrugged, and then gestured for him to clean up.

Finally giving in, he grabbed his robes from his trunk, and left the compartment swiftly. Seeing as he picked the compartment closest to the restrooms, he got there with no interruptions and locked the door behind him. These days, he craved privacy, especially since every time he went into the wizarding world, a hoard of reporters surrounded him. He undressed and dressed within minutes, avoiding the mirror the whole time, not wanting to see his reflection. His eyes probably had dark circles underneath, his hair more untamed than usual, and he probably looked more skeleton than human.

He stepped out of the restroom, not expecting anyone to be there, and ran directly in Draco Malfoy himself. “Oh, um, hello,” he said, trying not to look Malfoy in his eyes.

“The door was locked,” Malfoy said shortly. Harry nodded and mumbled something of an apology, stepping out of the way of the bathroom. The boy – or man, really – pushed past him, revealing behind him a girl, who in Harry’s eyes, looked no older than eight, but he assumed she was a first year.

“Are you Harry Potter?!” she asked excitedly. Harry nodded, mustering up the best smile he could. He hated when things like this happened, but after he saw Colin’s body at The Battle of Hogwarts, he promised himself to not be rude to anymore excitable eleven-year-olds. She shook uncontrollably, grinning from ear to ear, and hugged him tightly. He patted her back awkwardly, unsure of how he should feel about a girl half his size hugging him. She detached herself from him, and said, “I’m Megan Corner! My cousin Michael told me all about you, said you taught him how to cast a Patronus. That’s awesome!”

He smiled at her awkwardly, and then gestured to his compartment, and said, “Well, um, I have to get back to my godson, if that’s okay.” She nodded and skipped back to her compartment, and he rubbed his eyes before stepping back into his. Even after sleeping for such a long time, he was still tired. But he knew there was no chance of him sleeping for several hours, as even when he was dead tired, he had a hard time sleeping these days.

When Harry entered the compartment, he was surprised to see Dean and Seamus in the compartment, and even more surprised to see Teddy in Dean’s arms. Anxiety crept up and tugged at his heart, and he had to stop himself from grabbing Teddy out of Dean’s arms. He knew Dean wouldn’t hurt Teddy, he just didn’t like when other people held him, other than a few trusted individuals. He barely felt comfortable letting his closest friends hold him.

His anxiety was evidently obvious, because as soon as Dean saw his face, he passed Teddy to him. “Sorry Harry, we just came in here to see Ginny and Luna, and well they asked if we wanted to hold Teddy,” he blurted out, obviously trying not to upset Harry. Harry just sat down, looking down at his godson the entire time, and smiled warmly. Teddy never failed to put a smile on his face. His godson’s hair was now jet black and his eye’s matched his godfather’s. His friends watched on as the two interacted, Harry holding his godson up, and Teddy reaching out to his godfather’s face and sticking his finger’s in Harry’s mouth. They laughed when they realized that Harry was going to let the baby’s fingers rest there, and Harry was pulled from his own little world at the noise.

He blushed profusely, and muttered, “Don’t laugh at me, it makes him happy.” They all shook their heads, now just smiling, as if claiming that they weren’t laughing at him at all. He arched his eyebrow in question, wondering what they were all thinking.

Ginny was the one to speak up. “We’re not laughing at you, Harry. We just like seeing you so happy.” The rest of them nodded their heads in agreement. Harry grimaced. He knew it had been a while since most of his friends had seen him, some of them he hadn’t seen since the war. And he knew it had been longer since they had seen him really smile, let alone for longer than a few seconds.

“Don’t feel guilty, Harry. We know it’s been tough for you, especially these last few months,” Hermione said, trying to comfort him. He smiled weakly at her, and then returned his attention to the baby in his arms. Teddy was now clinging to his arm and trying to gnaw through his robes. Harry knew for a fact that that meant Teddy was getting hungry and he gestured for somebody to slide Teddy’s trunk over so he could search for food.

Hermione, instead, opened the trunk, and brought out the case of baby food he had brought. She widened her eyes at how much of it there was, but left that thought unspoken as she opened the case. She searched through it for a few minutes, obviously not knowing which Harry would want Teddy eating, until he finally said, “Just find the carrots, please.” She quickly found the orange mush and passed it over with one of the many spoons that were in a baggy in the case and the cloth she found near it. He looked at her gratefully, wondering how she knew to grab everything she handed to him.

“We fed his mushed peas earlier. I hope you don’t mind,” Luna piped up. He looked at her and grimaced, knowing that Teddy hated the peas, and for the first time realizing that part of her hair was tinged a familiar green. She looked at her hair and waved off his worries with a flick of her hand and a small smile, as if saying she didn’t actually mind being spat on. Harry started spoon-feeding the carrots to Teddy and his godson ate them up happily. Everyone else waited to see if the boy would spit up again, but alas, he did not.

Just as he was finishing feeding Teddy, the Hogwarts Express slowed down to a stop, and everyone in the compartment knew that they had arrived. Some of his friend’s breathing stopped suddenly, but Harry, his heart sped up. He could feel a panic attack coming on, so he quickly looked down at Teddy, who was wailing at the sudden mood change of everyone in the compartment. He shushed the baby, rocking his godson in his arms to calm him down, and soon, felt calmer himself. He found himself softly singing a lullaby, and Teddy was near sleeping.

_I see the moon,_

_The moon sees me._

_God bless the moon,_

_and God bless me._

One by one, each of his friends started breathing again, and founded themselves intently listening to Harry’s deep voice as he sung. They were enraptured by the perfectness of the lyrics, and yet they were paying less attention to the lyrics then the voice. Harry’s voice was soothing, perfect for singing lullabies, yet it still cracked over certain words. Teddy was quickly falling asleep, but nevertheless, Harry continued, knowing that Teddy wasn’t only one he was calming down.

_I see the stars,_

_The stars see me._

_God bless the stars,_

_and God bless me._

Harry stood up, still singing, and his friends followed suit (they stood up, they didn’t sing). They cast feather-light charms on their trunks, Hermione and Ginny each grabbing one of Harry’s trunks along with their own. Harry smiled at him gratefully between lyrics, glad he didn’t have to manage his wand and a baby at the same time. They headed off the train, Harry singing softer now, but singing nevertheless.

_I see the world,_

_The world sees me._

_God bless the world,_

_And God bless me._

When they were off the train, they took in the sight of the newly rebuilt school. Volunteers had worked tirelessly the past few months to get the school ready before September 1st, for everyone’s sake. Luna had now joined in on the song, feeling that Harry was slightly uncomfortable about singing alone in public. They squished themselves into the last carriage, and finished the lullaby.

_I know an angel_

_Watches over me._

_God bless the angels,_

_And God bless me._

One by one, they stepped out of the carriage, and that was it; it was time to start their last year at Hogwarts.


	3. All Around Me are Familiar Faces (but they're not where I'm used to them being)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please laugh at the chapter title, I'm trying to be funny.

**Chapter Three**

When Harry entered the Great Hall, he was shocked to say the least. It looked so different from the last time he had seen, and also from every time he had seen it before. Instead of four tables (not including the High table), there were five. Between the Hufflepuff table and the wall was a table decorated with purple. Harry looked at his friends curiously and they just shrugged, as they weren’t sure what was going on either.

He was all the more surprised when he realized who was sitting at the table. Everyone from his year that had came back was sitting there. And that’s when he knew that he was supposed to sit there too. He took a deep breath and motioned for his friends (minus Luna and Ginny) to follow him. This was going to be even more different than he thought it would be.

Harry sat near the middle of the table, trying not to make it look like he was avoiding Malfoy and his friends, but also trying not to not make it look like he was avoiding them. He caught Malfoy’s eye again and realized that the blonde was yet again staring at the baby in his arms. Harry wasn’t sure how to take it. On one hand, it was possible that Malfoy just wanted to meet his first cousin once removed. On the other hand, Malfoy could be judging him, and therefore, judging Teddy. And the idea of the latter really upset Harry.

He glanced away from Malfoy, and focused on his friends. They were all still a bit shaken up from being at Hogwarts again, and then one of the core things about Hogwarts had suddenly changed, at least for them. Their Hogwarts House was a part of them, and it had been ripped away from them, without any notice. It was a lot to adjust to.

Neville joined them, along with a blonde girl who Harry quickly realized was Hannah Abbott. He had no idea when the two of them had become friends, but it seemed like they were pretty close seeing as he had his arm wrapped around her. None of the others seemed surprised by this at all, as if it was a scene they were used to. And he wasn’t sure what to do with the knowledge that while he had been wrapped up within himself, his friends had been moving on with their lives.

Harry’s inner thoughts were interrupted by the familiar commanding voice of Professor McGonagall. “If you could please pause all conversations until further notice, that would be kind,” the woman said, in a tone that revealed that it wasn’t a request. The doors of the Great Hall opened to reveal Hagrid leading in the first years, all of them with faces of shock and excitement and anxiety. Harry quickly searched through the line for Megan, only to find that she was already staring at him. She waved at him ecstatically and then pulled on the sleeve of a girl standing near her. The girl shrieked at the sight of Harry, and Harry turned away, not exactly liking the attention the first years were giving him.

Thankfully, Professor McGonagall once again silenced the hall. “I am sure that all returning students have noticed that there is a difference in seating arrangements and the reason behind that is because there have never been any eighth-year students before. The unfortunate circumstances that led to those students being here has made me decide that those students will be focusing on interhouse unity and cooperation. Meaning that those students will all be eating and living together this year, at the same table and in the same dormitory. Now, on to the sorting.”

First, though, the hat did what it did every year: It sang a song.

_“Many and many a year ago, before you all were born,_

_Four wizards, not unalike, were sure their friendship would never be torn._

_Godric, with his recklessness and his endless need to be gallant;_

_Rowena, with her wisdom and her ability to see many forms of talent._

_Salazar, with his cunningness, and his want to stick to tradition;_

_And Helga, with her loyalty, and her belief that everyone deserved admission._

_Those friends, they built this castle from the foundation, up,_

_And they opened their doors to magical children, who needed to know what’s what._

_But, first, to sort each student, they created me;_

_So, put me on, and I’ll tell you where you belong to be.”_

Professor McGonagall pulled out a scroll, and called out the first name, “Abbott, Amy!” The blonde girl that had been with Megan ran up to the stool, and barely sat on it before the hat yelled out, “HUFFLEPUFF!” Harry looked to Hannah, who was still sitting across from him, and saw that she looked supremely happy. She saw his look, and explained that Amy was her little sister. Harry rolled his eyes on the inside, because he could have guessed that.

A boy named Johnathon Bender (did Harry know that name?) was next and the hat seemed to contemplate for a minute before yelling out, “GRYFFINDOR!” If Harry hadn’t been holding Teddy, he would have clapped loudly for the first person sorted into Gryffindor. Instead, he just made sure he was smiling, not wanting to whoop or cheer loudly either.

Simon Citron and, Harry noted, Megan Corner were both sorted into Hufflepuff. Michael seemed happy for his cousin, despite the fact that was, or had been, a Ravenclaw. Harry knew the house suited the girl, remembering her seemingly untamable excitement.

The twins of the year were Mallory and Marshall Edgecombe. Hermione flinched at their last name, remembering Marietta and her betrayal against the DA. They were sorted into Gryffindor and Hufflepuff respectfully, and Harry laughed at that, as Marietta, like Michael, had been a Ravenclaw. Both he and Hermione wished they could see her face when she found out.

Rebecca Fawley was the last Gryffindor Harry saw sorted, though he wasn’t paying much attention. The rest of the first years he saw sorted were a spiel of Ravenclaws (Fergus MacDougal, Eloi Moon, and Kiara Shacklebolt) and Slytherins (Tomas Higgs, Graciela Seweley, and Margot Sinclair). Harry had no idea what names had came between.

Harry lost track many times throughout the sorting, instead focusing on the Head Table, noticing that there were a lot of new teachers this year. McGonagall wasn’t yet back to the table, but Hagrid and Flitwick and Sprout were there, and so was Professor Babbling, Trelawney, Madam Pomfrey, but after that, nobody was the same. Bill was there, but he knew about that from Molly and Arthur’s visits. Bill would be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher until further notice. Percy was there too, as the new History of Magic teacher. Beside Bill were two fairly young women, a blonde and a redhead, both holding children, and a man who was wearing a deep purple scarf. He wondered who they were, and more importantly, what they were teaching. But the faces that surprised Harry most were those of Narcissa Malfoy and Mrs. Figg. He side-glanced at Malfoy to see if his expression would give anything away, but the blonde’s mouth was in a straight line, his eyes nearly emotionless. Harry returned his attention to McGonagall who was just now returning to the High Table, after the hat sorted Zachary Zeller into Slytherin (and by the looks of it, he wasn’t happy).

“Returning students may also notice the changes in the staff, and I will now introduce them,” she motioned to Bill first, “William Weasley here, will be filling in for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position until we find someone more permanent. He will then be the Ancient Runes teacher, but unfortunately, that class will not be available this year,” then pointing to Percy, McGonagall said, “Percival Weasley will be replacing the long-time staff member Cuthbert Binns, who is now in a better place, and he will now be the History of Magic teacher,” motioning to the two women Harry had noticed earlier, McGonagall continued, “Penelope Haywood will be replacing Horace Slughorn as the Potions teacher, as he has finally retired, and her fiancé Tulip Karasu will be staying at the castle, along with their children,” she then motioned for Mrs. Figg to stand up, saying “Arabella Figg will be Hogwarts’s new caretaker,” and finally Narcissa stood up, waiting for introduction, “and Narcissa Black will be serving her probation as the Astronomy professor,” McGonagall finished. Narcissa’s face flinched at the word “probation”, but she quickly recovered and sat down.

“I’d also like to introduce the Head Boy, Andrew Ackerley,” a boy at the Ravenclaw table stood up, “And the Head Girl, Astoria Greengrass.” Astoria also stood up at the Slytherin table, but quickly sat down, as if ashamed that so much attention was being put on her.

“I expect all students to treat each and every staff member, every prefect, and the Head Boy and Girl with respect and decency,” McGonagall pauses to look at the eight-year table before continuing, “and I hope that we all have an educational and _peaceful_ school year.” She sits down, and waves her wand, and suddenly, the feast had begun.

Harry found that he wasn’t hungry but ate at the insistence of Hermione. In between his meager bites, he watched as his friends conversed, and at Teddy, who was babbling nonsensically. Looking at Teddy helped, as the conversations around Harry seemed to be piling on top of each other, nearly crushing him (metaphorically). He wanted to be in his apartment, alone with Teddy, instead of here, in a room of hundreds of people, hearing everything and nothing at the same time.

Dinner was a blur for Harry, and suddenly he found himself walking with the other eighth years to the second floor, to their temporary common room. They had managed to fit all the boys into two dormitories (and the girls in one). Barely glancing at the names carved into plaques on the doors of the dorms, he went into the one with his name on it, and found his and Teddy’s suitcases near the bed closest to the window. He pulled the curtain of the four-poster bed closed, wandlessly casting a silencing charm, and sat there on his bed, holding Teddy and shaking and crying and singing a lullaby.

He had no idea when he finally went to sleep. For all he knew, he was up all night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, I should have updated this a lot sooner, but you gotta realise.... I'm very busy. Sort of... I also had slight writer's block with this chapter.  
> I describe something called sensory overload in this chapter, and I hoped I described it right, as I get it all the time and that's how I described it, but please tell me if I got something wrong.


	4. Drowning, Drowning, Drowning...

**Chapter Four**

Harry was drowning, metaphorically, of course.

They had only been going to classes for two days, and Harry was already regretting his decision to come back. Not only did he have an eight-inch essay due in Herbology on how to successfully grow and harvest fluxweed grass, a twelve inch-essay on the causes of the first wizarding war, needed to visit the library to find a defense spell to write about for Defense Against the Dark Arts, needed to perfect the transformation of a slab of wood to a piece of jewelry, and needed to practice the stance of a charm that Flitwick had taught them in class. So, yes, Harry was drowning, and he hadn’t even had his first Potions class. And, not to complain too much, but Teddy had been crying for nearly two hours, having started about fifteen minutes before Transfiguration had ended.

Harry knew that Teddy didn’t exactly like being away from home, in fact, Harry almost believed that Teddy hated being at Hogwarts. In their apartment, there were the soothing colors of the beige walls, the dull orange couch, the plush brown carpet, and the light green curtains, but here? The common room was decorated in just shades of purple, which hurt Harry’s eyes, not to mention Teddy’s. The first morning, Teddy had woken him up at four a.m. sobbing, and when Harry had taken him out of the dormitory, he cried even more, and only soothed when Hermione had come out (having heard the crying before Harry had casted a silencing charm) and cast a temporary color-changing charm.

At the moment though, Teddy couldn’t be crying because of the eye-sore referred to as a common room, because they were in Harry’s bed, the curtains pulled tightly closed. Harry had set Teddy up against a pile of pillows, in hope that he would fall asleep and that he would be able to finally work, but no such luck. Harry had tried everything: fed him, checked his nappy, sung him a lullaby, gave him a pacifier, gave him a toy, etcetera. But despite all his attempts to sooth Teddy, he would not stop crying. It wasn’t until Hermione ambushed him, tearing the curtain open, that he realized he had forgotten to cast a silencing charm.

“Parkinson just informed me that Malfoy informed her that either you’re silencing charms have worn off or you just simply forgot to cast one,” she said, her eyes blazing, not with anger, but with something else, something Harry couldn’t put his finger on. He sighed, casting a charm around the bed before waving her off, turning all of his attention to Teddy. She sat gently on the bed beside him and continued, “Harry, it’s great that you’re taking care of Teddy. Really, it’s great. But to take care of him, you have to take care of yourself too,” and he glared at her, opening his mouth to respond, before she shushed him, and continued yet again, “Do not tell me you’re taking care of yourself. You aren’t. I know for a fact you haven’t slept for more than seven hours total since we arrived, and you didn’t show up for lunch today. You’re eighteen. You need to eat, you need to sleep, and if you’re going to take care of Teddy, you need help.”

“If I accept people’s help, it’s basically admitting that I can’t take care of him. And then what? I can’t let him go. He’s all I have left,” Harry said, immediately regretting the last sentence when he saw Hermione’s eyes widen. “’Mione, I didn’t mean it that way. I just mean -” Hermione stopped him from continuing, and now, he was sure that it was anger blazing in her eyes.

“Teddy is not all that you have left, Harry. You have me. You have Ron. You have Ginny. You have Luna. You have Professor McGonagall. You have a whole lot of people left, and those people are worried about you, because you’ve already died on us once. We can’t watch it happen again,” she said, not yelling, not even raising her voice, but anger dripping from every word. Teddy was whimpering now, and she took him in her arms, saying to him, “I’m taking Teddy until after dinner, which you need to show up for. Get some studying done, get some rest, show up for dinner, and then you can have Teddy back.”

Harry was pissed, but he knew Hermione was right. He called out to her, “If you’re taking care of him, you have to figure out why he’s crying, because Merlin knows that I can’t.” She looked back at him, and smiled smugly, as if she had already figured out why Teddy was crying.

“Have you ever thought that maybe Teddy wants you to take care of yourself to, Harry? Because I do.”

***

“Get up.”

Harry grunted, curling himself more into the bed. He was surrounded by textbooks, and parchment, but he didn’t care, he just wanted to sleep. The voice repeated itself twice before he finally opened his eyes, turning over to see… Malfoy. Of course, it was Malfoy that had woken him up. The deathly pale, admittingly handsome anyways, man had to interrupt his life at any chance possible. Harry grunted yet again, and pulled one of his many pillows over his head, muttering, “Go away, Malfoy. I’m sleeping.”

“Yes, I know what it feels like to be trying to sleep, and then having someone incessantly bother me. It happened to me earlier today, if I’m going to be honest. This git came into the dormitory I was taking a much-need nap in, with a screaming child, and didn’t bother to think: ‘Hey, maybe I should cast a silencing charm so the people I share this dorm room with can sleep since they have Astronomy class at midnight.’ So, yes, Potter, I know how you’re feeling, and no, Potter, I’m not leaving until you get up,” Malfoy snarled, the volume of his voice rising as he kept talking. Harry finally sat up, looking thoroughly guilty.

“I apologize for earlier. It simply slipped my mind. I hope you got some rest after Hermione took him,” he said, barely above a whisper, as he stood up and checked if his outfit was acceptable, even after having been slept in. It was not. As he went to his trunk, looking for clothes, he asked, “Why are you getting me up, again? I don’t have astronomy.”

“I heard what Granger said. You have to be at dinner. Now get off the floor, you don’t have time to change.” Harry was shocked at Malfoy’s reason, but got up anyways, shivering as Malfoy unexpectedly cast a cleaning charm over him. The whole situation was strange. Malfoy was still practically insufferable, but the last thing he said made Harry rethink. Did Malfoy care about him for some reason? Was this just some sick joke? Was he getting led straight into some horrible prank? But, no, as he followed Malfoy, he realized that they were just going to The Great Hall, that nothing was going to jump out at him, that Malfoy wasn’t going to humiliate him.

“Why are you doing this Malfoy?” Harry asked this right before they reached the Great Hall. “Why are you acting like you care if I eat, if I live or die?”

“I’m not acting, Potter. You may think I don’t care about you, but trust me, I wouldn’t have done a lot of things if that was true. I’ve seen you almost die too many times to count. And as much as I hate admitting Granger’s right, she definitely is this time. We - I can’t watch it happen again.”

Malfoy threw open the doors of The Great Hall, leaving Harry stunned, and walked to his group of friends as if he hadn’t just admitted to caring about his arch-enemy.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear, writers block is going to be the death of me.


	5. Call Me By My Name

**Chapter Five**

“Where are you going?” Harry asked Hermione this Friday night, around seven, from the common room couch, which someone had permanently color changed to a dark green (he had to assume it was one of the former Slytherins). Hermione, on the other hand, was headed out to the corridor, in clothes that were most definitely not her school regulated robes.

Hermione swirled around, her hand on her hip, a toothy smile gracing her face, and exclaimed, “Parkinson invited me to a party in the Room of the Requirement. Isn’t that great?” Harry was confused, but he didn’t state his questions, because he didn’t want to upset his best friend. She was just so happy and in Harry’s mind, that was the most important thing, not when Parkinson and her had become close enough to invite each other to parties. He waved her good bye, after she asked him if he needed her to stay about one million times.

Harry was glad to have some alone time, that way he could think in silence. He had had his first potions class that day, and while Professor Haywood seemed understanding about having Teddy in class, he knew that at some point, he would have to figure something out, seeing as he had to leave early to keep Teddy away from Potion fumes. McGonagall tried to make it seem like she was okay with Teddy being in class, but she never did like being interrupted. Harry truly needed to find a way that he could take Teddy to as little classes as possible, and he needed to find it before his meetings with McGonagall, Professor Haywood, Bill, Percy, and Narcissa Black the next day.

“Is this where people are supposed to go if they aren’t going to the party? Or are you just planning to be fashionably late, Potter?”  Harry looked up to see Malfoy, with his arms crossed, standing just a few feet away from him. Even though they shared a dorm, they hadn’t talked since Malfoy had made his confession the night before. Harry wasn’t even sure what to say to him. He had so many other things on his mind, and he really didn’t need to be distracted by thoughts about what Malfoy could have meant.

“You’re not going to the party, Malfoy? That’s a shock.” Okay, so, that may not have been the best thing for Harry to say, but taunting came easily to him.

“Well, when you’ve watched a friend die in a room, you sort of wish that you’ll never have to be in there again, especially for something so celebratory,” Malfoy snarkily replied, and the words hit Harry with such force, he nearly flinched. His words seemed insensitive now, and he regretted saying them immediately after Malfoy replied. He opened his mouth to apologize, but Malfoy stopped him. “No need to say sorry, Potter. I can’t blame you for being able to forget.”

“You can sit down. If you want,” Harry said, suddenly feeling the need to be polite to Malfoy. Malfoy sat down on the couch, not right next to him, but not on the completely opposite side of the couch either. Teddy squirmed in Harry’s arms, seemingly reaching for Malfoy, and Harry instinctively tightened his hold on the baby.

“What? My cousin can’t even hold his arms out to me without you going all protective godfather on him?” Malfoy asked, eyes flashing. Harry loosened his grip on his godson, but still not let him go. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Malfoy…  actually, no, it was that he didn’t trust Malfoy. And he had good reason not to trust him. One of which could still be seen on his forearm, if one looked closely enough.

“Malfoy…,” Harry muttered irritably. He really needed to figure out this scheduling thing, and Malfoy distracting him was not going to help with that. “I have to figure some things out, okay? And I know, trust me, that we are not the type to do favors for each other, but if you could please leave me alone until the day after tomorrow, that’d be great.” Teddy sensed the change in Harry’s tone, and squirmed in his godfather’s arms, whimpering.

Malfoy held his arms out for Teddy, seemingly ready to catch him if he managed to get out of Harry’s arms, and Harry looked at him strangely. Malfoy’s eyes had softened, and he was now looking only at Teddy. He gently, nervously, let go of the squirming baby ready to pull him back at any moment, but he didn’t have to. Malfoy had now taken Teddy in his arms, rocking him gently, and the now blonde baby was babbling happily.

After a moment, Malfoy looked at Harry with a soft smile on his face, and said, “He’s just the sweetest baby in the world, isn’t he?” Harry nodded, but he wasn’t really thinking about the question. He was thinking about how nice Malfoy looked when he had a genuine smile. And he had to make sure that he didn’t blurt that out. So, instead, he said something else rather stupid.

“You don’t have Potions on Fridays, do you?” he asked quickly, that way he wouldn’t have time to regret what he was about to ask the other boy. Malfoy looked up at him strangely, but shook his head anyways, and Harry nervously asked, as if he was afraid Malfoy might say no, “What do you think about watching Teddy while I’m in potions?”

“Is that what you’re so agitated about, Potter? You need someone to babysit?” Malfoy asked incredulously. Harry nodded in response, ashamed, staring at his feet so Malfoy couldn’t see his embarrassed blush. Malfoy laughed loudly, and Harry looked up just in time to see how fascinating Malfoy looked when he was laughing. And then, Malfoy stopped, looked him in the eye, and said, “Potter, I could set up an entire babysitting schedule for this little boy. For something in return, of course.”

“And what would that be, Malfoy?”

“Call me by my first name.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes, that’s all I want in return.”

“Okay… Draco,” Harry stuttered over the other boy’s name, feeling as if something between them had changed. It was strange, but it also wasn’t. He looked at the other boy playing with his godson, and he thought: there isn’t anybody else in the world that he’d rather be watching.

That wasn’t weird, was it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know my excuse for taking so long (writers block).  
> Anyways, I finsihed my term paper today, and decide to reward myself by finishing up this chapter.


	6. You Can't Spell Subtext Without S-E-X (tual tension)

**Chapter Six**

It was nearly two a.m. Harry had put Teddy to bed ages ago, but he could not seem to stop talking to Mal-, err, Draco. The other boy looked beyond exhausted, but had not mentioned being tired, he had not even yawned. His hair was sticking up, in a way that Harry never thought Draco would let it be, and his silver-grey eyes had nearly lost their glitter. It was obvious that he was just one step away from falling into a deep sleep.

“Can I ask you a question?”, Draco asked him quietly, his usual voice gone, replaced with a kind of vulnerability. It was obvious that he wanted to begin asking the questions that can only truly be asked in the middle of the night. Harry was unsure if he wanted to do so as well, yet he still found himself nodding at the other boy in the affirmative.

“Why didn’t you want to be friends with me? All those years ago?”, Draco asked, almost looking miserable. There was a shift in the air as the conversation took a more serious turn, and Harry could feel the awkwardness seeping into his bones, and he could not help but want to ease the tension with a joke.

“Well, you were a bit of prat. Had a stick up that fine arse of yours,” Harry laughed, tensing at the joke, feeling as if he was revealing too much of himself. Malfoy laughed weakly as well, the mirth not quite reaching his eyes, but Harry did not dare mention it.

It was quiet for a few minutes, before Malfoy spoke again, now in a whisper, “I was trying to impress you. And then when you weren’t impressed, I got angry. Those were the beliefs I grew up with, Potter. Not that I always believed them. But a lot of the time, it was easy for me to blame other people for my own problems. I hate myself for that now.”

Harry’s breath stopped, just for a second, long enough for Draco to look at him, and see the look on his face. Harry had no idea how to explain how he felt right now. It was somewhere between awkward and anxious and terrified, and he was sure that his face reflected each and every one of those emotions, along with confusion. And, as he began to breathe again, he asked the other boy, “When did you stop believing in all of that?”

Draco looked at him, and whispered softly, so softly that Harry could barely hear him, “Sixth year. But… He… said I had to do all those things, all those terrible things, or else he would kill my mother and father. Right in front of me, He said, He would kill them right in front of me.” It looked, to Harry, as if Draco was trying to bite back tears that were threatening to fall.

Harry thought back to sixth year, and in an instant remembered what else had happened that year. He leapt out of his comfortable position on the couch that they were sitting on, immediately sitting closer to the blonde boy. Draco tensed as Harry’s hand touched him, moving closer to his chest. “So, when… when I did that to you, you had already changed your mind on everything?”

“Not everything. I still thought you were a prick,” Draco laughed shortly, his breath noticeably hitching. Harry tried to laugh as well, but he knew it was obvious that he was faking. He had just realized how close he was to the other boy, and inched away. Draco noticed, and tried to cover the awkwardness by continuing to talk, “Yes. At the time of the… _incident_ , I had already changed my views on blood purity and, well, everything. But I love my parents more than anything, so I couldn’t exactly express those views to the world. I just had to hope that the right side would win. That you would win.”

“But if you knew that your parents believed in the wrong thing…?”, Harry trailed off, not knowing how to end that question. Draco got the gist anyways, and pulled a pillow to his chest, breathing shallowly. It took him a few minutes for him to reply, and it felt like Harry wouldn’t be able to breathe until he did.

“Loving someone means loving them despite their faults. Despite their past, despite their bad choices, despite their flaws. I loved them despite what they believed, and even now, with my father in prison, I still love him,” Draco replied, and Harry felt his heart beat faster than ever. For some odd reason, Draco talking about love affected Harry, almost as if Harry liked him or something. Which, he definitely did not. And yet, he couldn’t help but want to be closer to the blonde boy.

“Draco…?”, Harry asked, almost sounding scared. He could see that tears were forming at the corner of the other boy’s eyes, and he wanted to be able to stop them. When Draco didn’t answer, he continued, “We don’t have to talk about this anymore if you don’t want to.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to. It’s just hard talking about these kinds of things. Especially with you,” Draco replied, his cheeks flushing. Harry inched closer back to his former arch-nemesis, breathing very slowly, laying his hand over Draco’s arm to calm him.

“It’s okay. You can trust me,” he said, his face now only inches away from the other boy’s face. Draco’s eyes widened at this closeness, and he scooted back further into the couch.

“Potter?”

“Yes, Draco.”

“We should go to bed. Before everyone comes back.”

Harry nodded, and scooted back as Draco got up. The blonde was wobbly, and Harry immediately got up to make sure that the other boy wouldn’t fall. They walked down the hallway together and Draco gave him a small, grateful smile before he climbed into bed, pulling the curtain tightly closed as he went.

It felt as if Harry’s heart was breaking as it happened. But that couldn’t be possible. Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, middle of the night Draco is a LOT different from regular Draco. I had fun writing this chapter of awkwardly serious chapter of sexual tension.


	7. The Professors Try To Knock Some Sense Into Harry, But He's Too Tired For This Shit

**Chapter Seven**

Harry woke up the next morning to the sound of Teddy’s laughter. And then he heard a voice. He sat up, ready to take Teddy away from whoever was with him, and possibly apologize for letting Teddy escape, when he actually heard what the voice was saying.

“Alright, Ted, we got to get you dressed before Harry wakes up. He’ll be so proud of you. Won’t you like that?”

Teddy giggled again, while Harry tried to place the voice. He was in such a sleepy haze that he couldn’t really think, he couldn’t tell who was talking, but he knew it was familiar in a strange sort of way. It was gentle, calm; it felt like home, if that made any sense, and Harry had to smile a bit at it. The smile immediately dropped when he realized that the person talking was Malfoy – no, wait – Draco, because he knew that he shouldn’t be thinking those types of things about his former schoolboy enemy slash bully.

Harry pushed back the curtains to reveal Teddy in half buttoned up overalls and the yellow and teal sweater that Molly had knitted him. He smiled graciously, and said, “You didn’t have to do that.” His morning voice was rough and it surprised both Draco and Teddy. Teddy reached for him, his chubby hands falling to the floor as he tried to make his own way over to his godfather. Soon though, as he was not able to crawl yet, he began to wail, and Harry scooped him up off the floor, and finished buttoning up his overalls.

“Sorry that he woke you up,” Harry said, trying not to look Draco in the eye.

“I was already up,” Draco replied in a small voice, almost as if he was afraid to admit it. Harry looked up in confusion. He knew that they hadn’t headed to bed until after two AM and if he was correct, it was only just seven AM now. Looking closer at Draco, he could see that the boy had gotten even paler if possible, and there were deep bags under his eyes.

Harry reached out and grabbed his arm, noting the way that Draco flinched, and whispering, “Hey, are you okay?”

Draco pulled away, as if the gentleness of the moment had burned him, and muttered, “I’m fine Potter.” He rushed out of the room, and it was only then that Harry noticed that Dean was awake as well. And Harry was almost positive that he had heard the whole conversation. Because Dean was smirking at him, like he knew something that no one else did.

Harry just flipped him off, and headed to breakfast with Teddy, leaving Dean to go back to bed since he had no idea when the partyers had come back from the Room of Requirement.

“Don’t get your knickers in a twist, Harry. It was bound to happen!”, Dean called out.

When Harry looked back, Dean’s curtain was already pulled shut, and all he could think was _‘What was bound to happen?’_

***

Later that day, Harry found himself and Teddy in McGonagall’s office.

“So, Mister Potter, what do you plan on doing about your… situation?”, she asked. She looked intently at the baby in his arms, and he held onto Teddy tighter, as if it was his first instinct. He closed his eyes for a moment, remembering that McGonagall did not want to hurt him nor his godson, and relaxed before responding.

“Draco told me last night that he would help me work out a babysitting schedule that would involve all of the eighth years. I think that you’ll agree to this solution, as it will boost interhouse unity and it will not put all the stress of raising a child on one person, i.e. me.”

“This is a good solution, Mister Potter. And I am glad that you are working to repair old wounds with Mister Malfoy,” she replied, smiling just the tiniest bit, and making him question everything for what must have been the thousandth time since he had come back to school.

“What do you mean?”, he asked, curious on what exactly everyone but him was seeing.

“I knew your father, as I am sure you know. He was my student. And while I am not proud to say this, I do occasionally like to know what is going on in my student’s lives,” she paused for a moment before continuing, “Your father loved someone before he loved your mother. Someone on the other side of the war. And while they handled it much better than you and Mister Malfoy, mostly because they acknowledged their feelings, I can tell you feel a similar way about him.”

Harry sputtered. How dare she imply that he was… in love with Draco? He shuddered at the very thought. McGonagall took one look at his face, rolled her eyes in a way that she would usually not, as she deemed it unprofessional, and pulled a very old, leather bound brown book out of her desk. “This was your father’s journal. When he and your mother went into hiding, he requested that if he and her were to die that I was to collect the journal as soon as I possibly could. It was under heavy protection, but I had some curse breaker friends back then that helped me. I suggest that you read it so that you can understand your feelings for Mister Malfoy,”

Harry reached for the journal, gently putting it into his bag before heading for the door. He only turned back when he heard Professor McGonagall say, “There’s nothing wrong with how you feel, Mister Potter.”

He sighed before replying, “Have a good day professor.” And then he shut the door behind him, heading to his next meeting, Bill.

***

His meeting with Bill was not much different. As soon as he sat down, Bill gave him that signature smirk that could make just about anyone swoon at the sight, and said, “So. I see we have similar tastes when it comes to guys. Slytherins who are way to hot to be on the wrong side of things, and yet they stay on the wrong side.”

“Will I get this talk from every teacher I visit today? Will I get a lecture on the fact that I like Malfoy from Percy too?”, Harry asked in frustration and Bill just laughed.

“I forgot that you didn’t know. Percy revealed over the summer that he’s been dating Oliver Wood since like… forever. Apparently, Penelope was his cover, or whatever. They plan on adopting soon,” Bill replied, and then continued, “Harry, we all just want you to be happy. And if that means dating Malfoy, just go ahead and date Malfoy.”

“I don’t want to feel this way about him Bill, I just don’t,” Harry said, his voice rising. Teddy started crying and he lowered his voice to calm him, continuing to say, “It isn’t okay for me to like him. And anyways, there is no way that he likes me.”

“He could,” Bill said simply.

Harry rolled his eyes, gathered his stuff, and got up to leave, only saying, “Tell Percy to cancel his meeting with me. I don’t have time to talk about whatever the bloody hell everyone thinks they know,” as a farewell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry that it's been so long! I'll try better, I swear


	8. Awkward Conversations All Around

**Chapter Eight**

Harry was laying on his bed, Teddy held tight to his chest, sleeping, as he read through the herbology essay he had written two days before for any errors (Hermione really had rubbed off on him), when he heard a knock at the door. He sat up, careful not to wake Teddy, and wondered who would be knocking at the dorm door, since the other boys had no sense of privacy and neither did Hermione. Figuring that it was Luna, coming to check on the rate of visible-to-only-her creatures were in his dorm room or whatever other excuse she would come up with to simply check up on him, his feet quickly landed on the floor and headed across the room. But when he opened the door, he was surprised to find that it was actually Ginny who had come to visit. Ginny, who he had not been alone in a room with since before the war. Ginny, who he still hadn’t talked to about not wanting to be with her. Ginny, who had written him exactly seven letters over the summer before he wrote back saying that he would be going back to school. Ginny, whose seven letters had gone unread.

“Come on in,” Harry said, smiling as politely as he could. It hadn’t been a pleasant today, and he was sure that this conversation would not help with that. “I just got Teddy down, so if you could keep your voice down, that’d be brilliant.” He realized what he had said quickly, and before she could even reply, he said, “Not that you have a loud voice, I just don’t want him waking up, I still have a few things to do before Monday, and –”

“Like redoing your meeting with Bill? And actually going to your meetings with Percy and Mrs. Malfoy?” Ginny asked, one question after another. He grimaced, realizing he had forgotten his meeting with Draco’s mother and hating the idea of how much shit he was going to get from Draco because of it. Ginny didn’t really seem angry with him, more disappointed, and right then, she really reminded him of Molly. Not that he would ever tell her that.

Shutting the door, he said, “In my defense, your brother crossed the line, just like Professor McGonagall did. Teachers really shouldn’t be forcing labels on their student’s sexuality, especially in meetings that are nothing about whether I’m ‘questioning’ or not.” He tried to keep his voice down, but this subject was really pissing him off at this point. “People are already too invested in my life, and now my teachers are going to be trying to shove me into a relationship? With Draco Malfoy of all people?”

Ginny stared him down for a few minutes, and then chuckled lightly, saying, “It’s funny. You didn’t seem very disgusted by the fact that they were trying to set you up with a guy – just the Malfoy part.” Harry started to speak, but she raised her hand in a way that brought attention to the fact that she was not done speaking. “This isn’t me forcing labels on you or shoving you into a relationship, it’s me giving you an option other than straight. It’s me telling you that almost all of my brothers are not straight and neither am I. It’s me telling you that you being with a guy – even Malfoy – would not be the end of the world.”

Harry was shocked. “You’re -,” he paused for a moment, trying to think of the best word to say next, finally deciding on, “– not straight?” He was a bit confused. Ginny had never dated girls, at least not to his knowledge. She had dated Michael, and then Dean, and then him, and she had gone to the Yule Ball with Neville, not that that had really counted. They had only gone together as friends. So, it was sort of coming out of nowhere, at least to him.

“Yeah. I’m bi. I like girls and guys. Mostly guys, but now, you know …,” Ginny trailed off, obviously expecting Harry to know what she about to say, but truthfully, he really didn’t. Seeing his confusion, she signed exasperatingly and said, “I’m dating Luna. Which you would know if you had read my letters. You would also know that I’m bi. I wrote a lot in those letters, a lot of stuff I wanted you to know.”

“I just couldn’t, Gin. After the war, everything was so overwhelming. And I guess I thought that your letters would be about us, about that kiss we had during that battle or before I left the burrow with Ron and Hermione. And, again, in my defense, Luna never mentioned you two were dating, and she visited all the time,” he said, but then continued, “I should have read your letters. I know that. But I also know that that’s not really stuff you would want to tell me through letters.”

“That’s true, but what other choice did I have. You barely let Mum and Dad visit, let alone me. Luna wouldn’t even tell me what you guys talked about whenever she was there. She would just say that both you and Teddy were fine,” Ginny said, growing a little bit more upset the more she talked.

“I’m sorry, Ginny,” Harry said, but she was already getting up. He set Teddy down against his pillow, and went after her, but as he respected her boundaries and didn’t think she would like being touched right now, he didn’t try to hug her or pull her back. He just walked after her, hoping she would say something before she left. “I’m really sorry, Gin. For everything.”

“I set up new meetings with all the teachers you had meetings with today for tomorrow. Including that new Potions professor that you bailed on today. She was very understanding,” is all Ginny said before leaving. Unfortunately, the slamming of the door behind her did wake up Teddy, and it didn’t sound like he would be going down for a while.

He walked back to his bed, picking up Teddy, and suddenly remembered the journal that Professor McGonagall had given him. Pulling it out and opening it up to the first page, he began to read it out loud to Teddy, who quickly calmed down when he realized he was being read a story, “September 1st, 1971. Dad says I need to keep a record of my times at Hogwarts. I just got sorted into Gryffindor…”

He read out loud until Teddy went to sleep, read quietly until it was time to leave for dinner, and only then did he set the journal down. He had learned a lot about his father while reading it… but the most important thing he had learned was that nobody had ever told him the truth about who his father was.

* * *

 

After dinner, and after he had played a few rounds of wizards chess with Seamus, as Teddy and Dean watched, Harry headed back to his dorm. He had only just begun to change Teddy’s nappie when Draco walked in, obviously pissed off. But he had been prepared for this.

“I’m sorry for ditching my meeting with your mother, Draco. I was upset. You probably wouldn’t have wanted me to go to a meeting with her when I was that upset,” Harry said, without looking up from his task. “I’ll apologize tomorrow.”

“I’m not upset about that. Mother told me that the Weaselette rescheduled for you,” Draco said, eyes flashing when he mentioned Ginny. Harry was sure that his eyes flashed as well, when he heard that stupid nickname.

“One, don’t call Ginny that. Two, then what in Merlin’s name are you so pissed about?” Harry asked, covering Teddy’s ears, hoping that would help him not be so upset about his voice raising.

“Did you know that the walls of this dorm are really thin? And that anyone standing in, say, the hallway, could hear a discussion you were having, especially if the voices in said discussion were a higher than normal volume? And that, said person in the hallway could possibly hear anything you're saying? That maybe they could hear something along the lines of you being disgusted by the fact that people just think you might have feelings for someone like me? Because I did hear something like that.”

Harry grimaced and turned to face Draco. “I’m sorry that you heard that, but you shouldn’t have been eavesdropping. It can lead to you taking a comment out of context.”

“I doubt I’m taking the words ‘And now my teachers are going to be trying to shove me into a relationship with Draco Malfoy of all people?’ out of context.”

“Well, then, maybe I should rephrase it in a way that means what I want it to mean,” Harry said, and Draco suddenly looked intrigued. “I don’t want to be shoved into a relationship with you, because I don’t want to be shoved into a relationship with anybody. If I’m in a relationship, I want to want to be in that relationship. I want friendship with that person, and I want the build up and the flirting and the awkward kisses, and I don’t want anyone else to be involved.”

Draco smiled, just barely, and said, “I’ll be sure to remember that… Harry.” He turned, and walked over to his bed, pulling the curtain closed when he got in. A few minutes later, after a little bit of rustling which Harry was pretty sure was Draco changing, Draco called out, “Goodnight you two.”

“Goodnight,” Harry replied, pulling Teddy into his arms and smiling. Maybe there was something between him and Draco.

But just maybe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've tried to write this chapter many times in the last, what, five months? But I can honestly say, no version I've written so far and scrapped was going to be as good as this version. I hope you like it and I'm sorry for the wait.


End file.
